I have finished Elmer the Candy Cane Dog's muzzle, using white and gray Wisper in tent stitches. The tent stitches mean this fuzzy thread isn't as fuzzy as it could be, but it still stands out a little as being different from his body and the candy cane, which is what I wanted. (By the way, my card of white Wisper does not have a color number but the gray Wisper is W60.) Wisper is a thin fuzzy thread that is a mix of kid mohair and nylon. I doubled a strand in my needle so it would cover my 18 count canvas ok. Wisper usually looks better in long stitches, and you can use the tip of your needle or a laying tool to gently stroke the stitches after you lay them on the canvas to bring more of the fuzzies to the front. Since I was using tent stitches I didn't bother to do this.

The same photo above shows I've been working on the big snowflakes at the top and bottom of the canvas. The top is finished. The empty spots are where beads will go.

The bottom shows better how I went about stitching the big snowflakes. Using the same white Very Velvet I used to couch the long diagonal lines, I tent stitched all the single stitches in the centers of the snowflakes. That is what you see in the stocking toe. Then I used a new white thread called either Faux Fur or Santa's Beard & Suit to insert long stitches in the snowflake arms. That is the step you see finished at the stocking top.

I should explain that both Faux Fur and Santa's Beard & Suit are from Rainbow Gallery. Both threads are very fuzzy and are meant for 13 count canvas. They are made up of 85 percent acrylic and 15% wool and both threads come from Italy. As far as I can tell, these two threads are identical except that there are 10 yards on the Santa's Beard & Suit card while the Faux Fur card holds 20 yards. I used Santa's Beard because there wasn't much thread left on the card and I hoped to use it all up (although I didn't). The Santa's Beard thread is fuzzier than my Very Velvet so it is a little harder to stitch with but it looks lovely as the fuzzy snowflakes. The fact that the centers of each snowflake are done in Very Velvet isn't obvious. I took advantage of the characteristics of each thread to stitch the snowflakes, using the clear definition of the Very Velvet for the single tent stitches and avoiding the fact that Very Velvet picked up red fuzzies from my red Crystal Braid and looked pink by finishing the snowflakes with Santa's Beard.

Mixing four different white threads (Very Velvet, Santa's Beard & Suit, Wisper and Burmilana) worked well for me on this piece as all four were the same stark white shade. I don't think I would have mixed thread brands if some of them had been cream, some white and some ivory.

My next step will be choosing the beads and trim that will finish this darling little stocking.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
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